Now, put on your bee veil and light your smoker (though you probably won't have to use the latter). Remove the syrup can from the bee package, and then remove the queen cage.

If you are hiving the package bees on foundation (rather than on drawn comb), the problem arises as to how to attach the queen cage to a frame. Perhaps the easiest, most reliable way to do this is to hold the queen cage against the underside of the top bar (screen side down, i.e., not contacting the top bar!), and then drill two small holes through the foundation (or poke the holes, if wax foundation is used instead of hard plastic foundation) under the queen cage near both ends of it, and secure the queen cage in place using separate loops of copper wire (or any soft utility wire).  Do not use thread or string, as the bees will chew through them and the cage will drop. Be sure to remove the cork plug from the opening to the queen cage, so the bees can chew through the sugar candy behind the plug and thus enable the queen to exit her cage.

Now remove three frames from the middle of the hive body (the latter should be on its bottom board and stand, and the bee bottom entrance fully open), but do not remove the frame holding the queen cage. Into the space where the three frames had been, shake most of the bees from the package. Do this quickly, and then immediately put the inner cover squarely on top of the hive body (the three frames still missing from it), and close up the hole in the inner cover with a piece of cardboard or thin wood sheet (so the bees will have to use the bottom entrance).

The honey bees remaining in the package should now be shaken toward the bottom entrance. Then place the almost-empty package off to the side; the few remaining bees will eventually find their way out of it and discover their new hive. Now wait about five minutes to allow the bees inside the hive to spread out; then remove the inner cover, carefully slide the frames together to close the gap created by the removal of the three frames, and re-install the three frames. Put the inner and outer covers on. You've hived a package.

For the first week or two, avoid indulging your curiosity-- leave the bees undisturbed. They are sometimes apt to be skittish during this time, and could abscond if they feel put upon. However, do feed sugar syrup (one part sugar to one part water) continuously, as long as they'll take it. If they won't take much, it may only be because a nectar flow is going on (bees almost always prefer nectar to sugar syrup); but keep a thicker syrup (two parts sugar to one part water) available to them, because some nectar flows can be fickle. (The thicker syrup will delay spoilage if the syrup is not taken for a while. Also, never feed the bees honey, because disease organisms can be introduced to the hive this way.) Bees need syrup or nectar to raise brood and to generate wax scales to enable them to draw out foundation into comb.

Do not initiate feeding during cool weather, as this will excite bees to rush out of the hive and become chilled and perhaps not be able to return to the hive.

An entrance feeder-- the kind where the bees suck the syrup through tiny holes in the lid of an upside down jar mounted in a holder that fits into the hive entrance-- is perhaps best, because its use does not involve disturbing the bee hive. In the morning, you might do well to replace the cold bottle of sugar syrup with a somewhat warm (but not hot!) bottle of syrup. The removed bottle of syrup can be warmed up for use the next time syrup is needed.

Bees also need water, to raise brood. But if you just put out a pan of water, bees will drown in it. One of the best ways to provide water is to use the kind of entrance feeder that allows liquid to run into a very small shallow trough, which is part of a holder for an upside down plastic bottle. Place this on a block of wood in the sun anywhere in the vicinity of your hives. Eventually the bees should find it. Keep the water in fairly fresh..

For ongoing management, see Managing Small Hives.

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